“Behind the Attic Wall,” by Sylvia Cassedy is a rather strange Victorian tale about a young orphan girl who is thrown out of boarding school and ends up living with her great aunts.

Maggie never lasts long at any boarding school. She doesn’t get along with the other students at all, and she is always in trouble with the teachers. When she is finally kicked out one to many times her Uncle Morris comes to pick her up and take her to live with her great aunts. From the start Maggie realizes that her Uncle Morris is a very eccentric man. For one thing he asks her questions that don’t seem to make any sense, and he says the most curious things.

But Maggie endures the trip, because she is sure that living with her great aunts will be wonderful. She can see them in her mind as kind, caring old ladies living in the perfect house of her dreams. But when Uncle Morris finally arrives at Maggie’s new home she finds that reality is much different. Her great aunts are perfectionists that have great plans for reforming Maggie. In addition, the nice home that she had imagined is really a huge building that used to be a boarding school. Now the empty classrooms and dormitory rooms remain but there are no students. The whole building is sort of frightening. What is more some people even say that it is haunted.

Then Maggie starts hearing strange voices. She isn’t sure where they are coming from but they seem to be speaking about her. Maggie is determined to figure out where the voices are coming from, and eventually they lead up to the top of the great boarding school to the attic. Little does she realize that it will result in an unusual adventure that will teach her how to love and will change her personality more than any boarding school or strict great aunt ever could.

“Behind the Attic Wall” is, in my opinion, a fairly good book. The descriptions are vivid, and many of the characters are quite unusual. I particularly liked the way Maggie and Uncle Morris were described. The story’s plot is definitely unique, and sure to intrigue readers. The mysterious aspects of the plot are revealed in just the right order and at just the right time. Overall I would definitely recommend “Behind the Attic Wall,” by Sylvia Cassedy.

13
replies so far. What are your thoughts?

I'm glad you liked it so much. I'm afraid that I have read so many books that my tastes are more demanding these days. When I have to choose whether a book is extremely good, fairly good, or average I have to consider how it compares to the thousands of other books that I have read.

What I'm saying is that if you thought this book was amazing, then you should keep reading. There are other books out there that are so incredible that they make "Behind the Attic Wall" look only "fairly good".

Have fun reading,

Nathan

Anonymous
said...

This is not a Victorian-era storyline (given the description of girls wearing ski hats, parkas, and garter belts). I am suspecting perhaps the 1950s. Good story though.

Karie
said...

Love love love this story! Haunted and saddened me as a child when I read it and now, after finding it in a box of my books (that I had as a child) I re-read it. Still haunting and beautiful. Love it! Great read and I think it would make a great movie!!

Anonymous
said...

i liked the book. it is really great.i think you would enjoy the book.most amazing book i have ever read.don't you want to find out who are the people calling her. i can't tell. you are going to have to read it to find out.i love the book because it was so mysterious and i hope you enjoy it too. go and get the book to read it.

Anonymous
said...

To Nathan KP:

Why on earth would you compare books with one another? You certainly wouldn't compare something by Stephen King to something by Dr. Seuss. They are written for different audiences, and with different intentions. As someone else who's read more books than I could ever hope to keep track of, I know that everyone's tastes are different, and one person's "amazing!" may only be my "ho-hum". Personally, I love this book, and just read it again. It was at least 20 years ago I first discovered it, and for me, it hasn't lost its magic over time. I'm glad the reviewer enjoyed the book.

jzzy55
said...

I found this book today in the "free pile" in the teacher's lounge at the elementary school where I work. It is EXACTLY the sort of thing I enjoyed as a child (I am many decades past childhood) and I just read it in one go after dinner. I can't say if it would have made my childhood Top Ten list or not but I very much enjoyed the author's imagination and willingness to mingle eras and literary styles. Yes it has plenty of Secret Garden in it but it also combines modern YA elements. The living doll thing is both creepy and sweet. I didn't pay much attention to the main character's emotional development (I never did, even back in the day). It's all about the mood and the tone and as far as that goes, Cassedy nailed it. Highly recommended.

Anonymous
said...

i am reading the boook now and i love it!! People at school pick up my book and say wow this is lame but they havent even read it yet its like they say "never jugde a book by its cover" so Sylvia Cassedy did an amazing job and i will keep reading this book for ages to come and so will my children:) i highly recoommend this book.

Anonymous
said...

Forgot the one above this i did and forgot to put my name LOVE- Kiwi F. and love the book:)

Anonymous
said...

What is this book's genre??

Anonymous
said...

I think the book was amazing. The plot was very good and I could easily picture everything. I just didn't want to put the book down! I would definitely recommend it!

Anonymous
said...

This book is amazing, I got lost in it, imagining things that might happen in an old attic house. I liked when the back wood girls came out in the story. I always wished I had an attic like this in my grandparents house.sbates

Anonymous
said...

It's not Victorian. Good book. Strange!

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